


The Legend of the Snowmen

by WinterJoy



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Blizzards & Snowstorms, F/M, Felicity Believes, Fluff, Olicity Holiday Tropes Challenge, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Siblings, Snow, Snow Kangaroo, Snowball Fight, Snowmen, So Oliver Believes, Winter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-02-19 07:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22007416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterJoy/pseuds/WinterJoy
Summary: Felicity believes in the legend of the snowmen.Oliver had never heard of such a thing.Now he has a new way to show Felicity how important she is to him.Glimpses into the snowmen made during each season of Arrow.
Relationships: Oliver Queen & Thea Queen, Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Comments: 52
Kudos: 75





	1. Year 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the Olicity holiday tropes dialogue prompt: "You killed my snowman. This is murder."
> 
> Please join me in believing that it snows in Star(ling) City more often than we see in canon.

Oliver revved his bike, skidding around the corner in pursuit of tonight’s criminal.

The man must have had some training, given his speed on foot, but then again, he was trying to flee from the Hood, so he couldn’t have been that smart.

Oliver registered the somewhat familiar neighborhood but remained focused solely on the man in front of him.

Drawing back his bow, Oliver began shooting at the man who was racing across the snow-covered yards.

He let loose an explosive arrow, trying to distract the man. 

Snow exploded.

Quickly drawing a regular arrow, Oliver shot the man in the leg.

“Mark Athonberg, you have failed this city!”

A few minutes later he turned away, pressing the comm in his ear.

“I’ve got the information. I’m coming back.”

“Roger,” Felicity’s voice sounded in his ear, “get back here”.

Oliver noticed that Felicity was suddenly quieter than usual, but she had seemed fine when he left the foundry earlier that night, so maybe she was just tired. He would have to check on her before she left for the night.

He clomped down the stairs to the foundry, consciously making noise so as not to startle Felicity; otherwise one of these days she might actually buy him a bell.

Oliver started to chuckle to himself then immediately froze:

Felicity was blocking his path, glaring at him.

“Oliver Jonas Queen.”

Full name. That wasn’t good.

“How could you be so heartless?”

Oliver’s heart sank. Was this the breaking point? Could she not handle his darkness anymore? Was she going to call him a monster and leave for good? He dreaded her next words and tried to steel himself. He had been alone before. He could do it again.

“You killed my snowman. This was murder.”

Oliver blinked.

“What?” he asked, genuinely confused.

Felicity’s loud voice was in full force now.

“You chased Athonberg right through my yard and exploded my snowman! I have surveillance cameras, thank you very much, and I saw what you did. I know how well you shoot; you could have avoided it, but noooo, you had to kill him in a fiery death. What did a snowman ever do to you?!”

“Felicity…” Oliver spoke slowly, trying to understand. “I have killed more people than you will ever know. You watch me shoot people almost every night… and you’re upset about a _snowman_?”

“Yes!”

“Seriously?”

“You stopping criminals is good thing. You murdering innocent snow people is not! Now that poor snowman won’t be at peace for at least a year. My yard is a place to free the souls of snowman, not trap them!”

By this point Oliver was bewildered.

“Felicity, snowmen don’t have souls.”

Felicity glared at him.

“They DO! Don’t tell me you don’t believe it. It’s not like Santa Claus; that’s a story you tell little kids and they grow out of it—not that I ever believed in that, since I’m Jewish and all,” she babbled, “but you must have believed in Santa.”

“Yes, I believed in Santa.”

“Well the legend of the snowmen isn’t like that. It’s real!”

“The legend of the snowmen?”

Felicity stared at Oliver before suddenly softening.

“Do you know the legend of the snowmen?”

Oliver shook his head. He’d never heard of such a thing. 

“Oh. Well we need to fix that.”

Felicity smiled and started in on the tale.

“Every snowman made with joy has a soul. And who makes a snowman without joy?”

Oliver watched as Felicity’s eyes sparkled.

“So every snowman has a soul,” she continued, “They bring happiness to those who see them, and when they melt naturally they get to help plants grow and bring more joy to people, so they are at peace.” Felicity explained.

“But when a snowman is knocked over or broken or _exploded,”_ she shot him an accusing glance, “or otherwise killed before their time, then they don’t get to give as much joy as they were supposed to, so their souls are forced to haunt the area. If you ever see frost or ice on your windows, those are the tears of the trapped souls of snowmen.”

Oliver was mesmerized by how passionately Felicity spoke about this.

“You can’t fix a broken snowman; you can’t bring them back to life. But the next year their soul can be reincarnated into a new snowman, and if that snowman lives out its life then its soul can be at peace. That’s why it’s important to always make snowmen and to never kill one.” 

_That is so perfectly Felicity_ , Oliver mused with a smile, _kind and believing and anything but normal._

It seemed that not killing snowmen would now rank higher on his priority list than not killing people.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized to her, “I didn’t know.”

Felicity patted his arm.

“I forgive you. But next year you are going to help me build another snowman to release his soul.”

“It’s a deal.”

Oliver smiled. He was actually looking forward to that.


	2. Year 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A snowstorm reminds Oliver of a promise that he made to Felicity last year, and of time spent with Thea when they were young.   
> Set in season 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone; I'm back!  
> I've never had a posting schedule before, but I'd like to try it.  
> So, this fic will now update every Thursday.
> 
> Stay safe and wash your hands!

Oliver woke at 5 am.

He had crashed into bed around 1am when he got home from the Foundry; 4 hours was a good sleep for him.

Usually Oliver filled the time between waking and heading to work at Queen Consolidated with a run around the property.

He moved to the window to check the weather.

Pulling back the curtain, Oliver looked outside to see…

Snow.

Lots and lots of snow.

And it was still coming down!

Oliver grabbed his phone to check the weather report.

The forecast called for snow the rest of the day, and due to freezing rain overnight, Starling city officials were recommending that everyone stay inside and off the roads today.

Oliver quickly sent out an office-wide email blast officially closing the company for the day and urging the employees to stay safe.

He knew what it was like to be stranded in the cold; he wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

Returning to the window, Oliver watched the snow come down until he remembered.

_Snow. Snowmen._ _Felicity!_

He had promised to help Felicity build a snowman this year!

With a burst of energy Oliver hurried downstairs and found his snow gear.

Coat, snow pants, boots, hat, scarf, mitts.

Pulling it on, Oliver jogged outside and headed toward the forest on the property.

It was too early to call Felicity, so he might as well set up and get his morning exercise in.

Oliver spent the next hour gathering piles of sticks from the woods and bringing them up to the back of the house.

When he finally decided that he had enough, he headed inside, hanging his gear to dry.

“Good morning Raisa!” Oliver greeted as he stepped into the kitchen, smiling at the woman who practically raised him.

“Ah, good morning master Oliver. Eggs should be ready in about 10 minutes.”

“You’re an angel.” Oliver praised, “do you know where we keep all the spare hats and scarves and such?”

“They should be in a box in the storage closest on the third floor of the east wing. But your favourites are in the hall closet.”

“Oh, I found my favourites. I need the extra for snowmen. Thanks Raisa!”

Oliver hurried off to find the box, so he didn’t see Raisa’s wide smile.

_There’s the good boy I know. I’ve missed his smile._

Oliver dug through the pile of old hats, prompting a flurry of memories of simpler days when he would help a young Thea build snow people all across their yard.

_Thea!_

She had been complaining about how distant Oliver had been lately. This would be the perfect way to spend time together.

Surely Felicity would be happy for another set of hands to make even more snowmen.

Oliver pulled out his cellphone and dialled.

_“Hello. Oliver, what’s wrong?”_

“What? No, nothing’s wrong Felicity.”

_“Then why are you calling me at… 6:45 in the morning?!”_

“Look outside!”

_“Whaa— oh! It’s snowing!”_

“Yes!” Oliver enthused, “and the company is closed because of the icy roads, so we can spend all day making snowmen!”

_“Yay! Wait—we? Oliver Queen, broody vigilante, is going to make a snowman?”_

“I promised you last year that I would.”

_“You remember that?”_ Felicity marvelled.

“Of course I do.” Oliver assured her, “I already started gathering supplies. There’s tons of space on the grounds here to make more snowmen than we possibly could, and I’ve got piles of sticks, hats, and scarves ready to go.”

_“You really are a softy inside, aren’t you?”_

“Just don’t tell the criminals, ok?”

_“I promise.”_

“Would you mind if Thea joined us? I haven’t spent much time with her lately and we always used to make snowmen together when she was little.” Oliver asked tentatively.

_“Oh, of course! I don’t need to come; this can just be the two of you.”_

“No way,” Oliver rebutted, “you are the master of snow people—and my friend. I absolutely want you here. I’ll be at your place to pick you up in a little less than an hour. I just need to wake Thea up and then I’ll be on my way.”

_“Oh, you don’t need to do that; I can drive.”_ Felicity protested.

“No way. The roads are treacherous right now. I don’t want you driving on them.”

_“But you can? Women are great drivers too, Oliver.”_

“It’s not that. I just have experience driving in weather like this. Nothing a Starling city winter can throw at me could be worse than what I dealt with in Russia.”

_“Oh.”_

“Bring an overnight bag just in case it gets worse by tonight. See you soon!”

Oliver ended the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket.

Quickly carrying the box of winter gear to the back door, he hurried back upstairs to Thea’s room.

Oliver tapped on her door before he quietly let himself him.

He grinned at the sight of Thea sound asleep under a mountain of blankets.

Feeling playful, Oliver snuck over till he was right next to her, then suddenly leaped up and started bouncing, jostling her awake.

“Thea! Thea wake up! It’s a snow day!”

Thea groaned and pulled a pillow over her head.

“Go away, Ollie.”

“Theeeeeeeaaaaaaa”

She hit him with a pillow. “I’m sleeping!”

“Not anymore. Felicity is coming over and we’re all going to make snowmen.”

Thea sat up and stared at him.

“Who are you and what did you do with my big brother?”

Oliver grinned.

“You used to wake me up to build snowmen with you; it’s high time I did the same.”

“’I’m not really sure what’s happening right now, but I’ll take it. When is she getting here?”

“I’m going to pick her up right now. The roads are pretty bad so I’m not sure how long it will take.”

“You better hurry then! You promised me snowmen and you’re not getting out of it.”

When Oliver pulled into Felicity’s driveway 45 minutes later, she was standing on the doorstep, bundled head to toe. In one hand she held a duffle bag, and in the other she carried the biggest bag of carrots that Oliver had ever seen.

Oliver jumped out to load her bag into the back of the car so she could climb inside the warm vehicle.

“You didn’t have to wait outside for me. I would have knocked.”

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t outside long.” Felicity assured him, “I tracked your phone so I’d be ready when you arrived.”

“Only you, Felicity.”

“Hey! The roads are terrible! I had to make sure you got here safely and weren’t stuck in a ditch somewhere.”

“I appreciate it.”

He hopped back in the car and carefully pulled out of the driveway.

“So,” Oliver wondered aloud, “where did the carrots come from”?

“Uh, my fridge. Where else?”

“Felicity Smoak had vegetables in her fridge?” Oliver teased, “am I in the right universe?”

“Hey!” She protested, “I’m not _that_ bad.”

“You think coffee is a fruit because the beans grow on trees.” Oliver deadpanned.

“They do!” Felicity insisted, “besides, I’ll have you know that I keep carrots in my fridge all winter.”

“Do you ever eat them, or are they only for snowmen?”

“…”

“...”

“Fine, they’re for snowmen.”

Oliver chuckled and reached over to switch on the radio.

Felicity sang along to the music, dancing in her seat, as they made their way to the mansion.

“So,” she quired as they pulled through the gates, “are you sure your mom won’t mind having snowmen all over her lawns? That’s not against some sort of rich people code, is it? Because if they’re going to be knocked over then it would be better not to build them in the first place.”

“We need to release their souls, not trap them,” Oliver agreed, “I remember, Felicity. I’ll make sure they don’t get knocked over… or exploded. We don’t really get much company these days so it shouldn’t be a problem. To be safe we’ll use the back lawn anyway.”

“Perfect.”

Oliver stashed Felicity’s duffle in one of the guest rooms, and the pair met Thea at the door to pull their gear on.

For the next few hours, the mansion grounds were filled with the sound of crunching snow and peals of laughter as the trio assembled a veritable army of snow people all across the grounds.

At one point they even made a giant snowman so tall that Oliver had to lift Felicity onto his shoulders to place the head on top.

Thea then insisted that he boost her up too so she could get the hat and scarf just right.

“This snow woman is obviously the leader, so she must have great fashion sense. So, fuchsia scarf or burgundy? What do you think, Felicity? We all know Ollie is hopeless with fashion.”

“Hey!” Oliver protested. “Don’t make me toss you in a snowbank!”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Oliver turned and walked toward a particularly deep drift, carrying a shrieking Thea still on his shoulders.

“Let me down!”

“Nope. You asked for it, Speedy.”

With a grin Oliver dumped his sister into the snow.

“Oh, it’s on!”

Soon a snowball fight was in full force, with both girls teaming up against Oliver.

Felicity knew he must be holding back, but everyone was having fun, so it didn’t matter.

At one point Thea slid up next to Felicity where she was hiding behind a tree.

“Thank you, Felicity.”

“For what?”

“For giving Ollie back to me. This is the kind of big brother that he always was,” Thea told her, “laughing and teasing and playing with me; but I haven’t seen him happy like this since, well, since before the Gambit… But today, making snowmen with you, I have my brother back. Thank you.”

“Oliver loves you, Thea.” Felicity assured her, “sometimes he has trouble showing it, but he really does.”

“I was starting to forget,” Thea admitted, “but now I remember.”

“It’s the magic of snowmen,” Felicity grinned, “it brings out the best in people.”

When the trio finally trooped into the kitchen for some of Raisa’s hot chocolate hours later, they were soaking wet and grinning from ear to ear, still nudging each other and laughing.

_Ah yes,_ Raise smiled to herself, _there must be some truth to the stories that my grandmother told me about snowmen. Joy and new souls indeed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Twitter! @WinterJoy4


	3. Year Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver climbs the snow-covered mountain to face Ras al Ghul.

The wind whipped around Oliver, tearing at his scarf, alternately pushing him into the cliff face and attempting to pull him from it.

One hand then the other.

A toe hold and a stretch.

Slowly but surely Oliver made his way up the mountain to fight Ras al Ghul.

He would, almost certainly, be the toughest opponent that Oliver had ever faced.

But he had to do it; his sister’s life was on the line.

Reach up and pull.

Slide sideways and lift.

Somewhere down below, a particularly sharp rock had torn Oliver’s mittens from his hands, so he now climbed without protection for them.

With quickly numbing and slightly blue fingers he persisted in his journey upwards.

Would he be able to beat Ras al Ghul; the demon himself?

_I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could beat him._

He had told Felicity as much, and he believed it.

Oliver had years of training, and Malcolm had helped him with the sword. He was younger than Ras; that should be an advantage.

It would be enough, right?

Step up and grab.

Crouch and spring.

Oliver believed that he would win this fight. But if he didn’t, it would be okay.

If he won, Thea was safe. If he died, the league would continue to believe that he had killed Sara, and Thea would be safe.

No matter the outcome, this duel would save his sister’s life.

_Whoever I am, I am someone who will do what ever—WHAT EVER—it takes to save my sister._

Since the day she was born, Thea had always been the most important girl in Oliver’s life.

He may be ashamed of a lot of what he had done as Ollie, but he would always treasure the time spent with his Speedy.

_I will not fail my sister_.

Stretch and lift.

Brace and reach.

Oliver didn’t want to die. He liked his life. He finally had people that he trusted with everything: Roy, his protégé; his brother John; Felicity, the woman he loved.

_And the second thing? I love you._

No matter what happened, Oliver could be at peace now that he had told Felicity the truth.

Grab and pull.

Step and climb.

With a grunt, Oliver hauled himself onto a ledge that was large enough to lay down on.

He sat down to take a break, wanting to conserve his energy for the fight to come.

As the snow swirled around him, Oliver was transported back to memories of happy times last year.

A record-breaking snowstorm had led to a day of snowmen and snowball fights with Felicity and Thea.

Oliver couldn’t remember when he had ever been as happy as he was that day.

He hoped his girls would always have a reason to smile and laugh like that.

But today? Today someone was going to die.

_There’s something I need you to do… I need you to kill him._

Felicity, his beacon of light, had begged him to kill Ras.

Oliver didn’t want to be a killer anymore. But more than that; he wanted to go home. He wanted to make more snowmen with his family. He wanted to protect his city and live his life and win Felicity’s heart.

He reached out and gathered a handful of snow, forming it into a ball.

This mountain was desolate and very near impossible to climb.

No one would come to disturb a snowman here. It would melt in spring and its soul would be free.

As much as this was a neutral site, Oliver knew that it would be filled with league members, while he himself would have no backup.

Oliver didn’t want to step into darkness alone.

He had grown used to having Felicity in his ear and Dig at his back.

So, he built a snowman.

It was a little one, only a foot high, tucked away at the back of the ledge.

But Oliver built it with joy and love, filling it with memories of Thea and Felicity.

Now he had an ally on the mountain; another soul filled with light.

No matter who died today, this snowman would go free.

With a look of new determination, Oliver turned to the cliff face and continued climbing.

Step and hoist.

Reach and pull.

Not long after, when Ras shoved Oliver’s bleeding body off the side of the mountain, he landed on that very same ledge.

The little snowman stood guard as Oliver lost consciousness and his heartrate slowed.

A small blip in the midst of an emptiness cut only by the even lonelier howling wind, the little snowman stood next to the fallen hero.

It was cold, and the snowman shouldn’t have melted until late spring.

But somehow, Oliver’s remaining body heat was enough to begin melting the snowman.

It kept watch as it shrunk, slowly receiving life from the man who had created it.

Oliver was never alone on that ledge; the last snowflake melted as Maseo knelt beside Oliver.

Two souls lived that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know this chapter was sadder than normal.   
> I promise next week's installment will be fluffy!  
> Updating each Thursday.  
> Twitter @WinterJoy4


	4. Year Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olicity enjoy a day off together in early season 4.  
> Of course there are snowmen involved.

Felicity let out a laugh as she walked down the path in the park.

It had snowed overnight and she was in a great mood.

Every once in a while her walk would turn into a skip for a few steps. Who said skipping was only for kids? There was snow, she was happy, and she’d skip if she wanted to!

Felicity and Oliver had been living life in the fast lane since they came back to Star city.

While Felicity loved the time she and Oliver had spent together with no danger and no commitments, she was glad to be back to a full schedule.

Her brain needed to be challenged, and she needed to help people and make a difference.

There didn’t seem to be a middle ground though.

A couple months ago the busiest thing that happened in a week was hosting brunch or a video conference. Now Felicity was the (in person) CEO of a fortune 500 company, Oliver was running for mayor, and they were both working incredibly long hours with Team Arrow to try and bring down the ghosts while still keeping an eye on all other crime in the city.

That’s why today was special.

Felicity and Oliver had agreed to take a half-day vacation to spend some non-work-related time together.

They had both booked the afternoon off, and Thea had assured them that the rest of the team could handle patrols for the night. That’s what they’d done for months anyway.

So here was Felicity, happily skipping through the snowy park on her way to pick her boyfriend up from work.

 _Boyfriend_.

Oliver was her _boyfriend_.

She never got tired of saying that.

With a grin, she stepped into Oliver’s campaign office.

“Hey handsome.”

Oliver’s head flew up to see her, and a smile broke out across his face.

“Hi Sunshine.”

He stepped forward to wrap her into a hug, which she gladly reciprocated.

Felicity loved the way that she fit under Oliver’s chin. When he hugged her it felt like the whole world fell away and he was the only thing that existed.

“How was your morning? Did the board give you any trouble?”

“Nope!” Felicity replied, stepping back so Oliver could gather his things, “they tried, but I had it handled.”

“Good.” Oliver returned, “when will they learn to just trust their beautiful, genius CEO?”

“I think you might be biased.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true… and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Sap.”

“Your sap.”

“Always.”

Felicity wouldn’t have it any other way either.

“How did your morning go?” she asked Oliver.

“Oh the usual. Plenty of phone calls and an endless string of questions.”

He shrugged his coat on and reached for her hand as they stepped out the door.

“But enough about work. This is our day off and I just want to spend it with you.”

Felicity melted inside. How did she get so blessed?

The happy couple walked back through the park, holding hands and laughing as they talked about everything and nothing.

“Hey look!” Felicity pointed, “those kids are building snowmen!”

Indeed, there were a few snowpeople already standing in the area as two kids worked together to lift the middle snowball onto a base.

Olicity stopped to watch the kids play for a few minutes.

Then the peace was shattered.

A couple of young teenage boys ran over and started knocking over and smashing the snowmen as the air was filled with the cries of the children.

Oliver broke into a sprint to stop the teenagers while Felicity ran to comfort the children.

“Hey! Cut it out!” Oliver’s voice was edging dangerously close to his Arrow voice. “What do you think you’re doing? You do _not_ get to bully kids or destroy snowmen in this city.”

The offenders were looking nervous, but Oliver kept going.

“First smashing snowmen; then what? Smashing windows? Do you _want_ to be on the receiving end of an arrow one day?”

“Hey!” Felicity cut in, “deep breath, Oliver.” She turned to address the troublemakers. “You two are going to apologize, and then you’re going to spend the afternoon helping to build as many snowmen as these kids want. Understand?”

They nodded frantically, with wide eyes and shuffling feet.

“Sorry.” “Yeah, sorry.”

“For?” Oliver prompted.

The boys looked up and gulped.

“Sorry for wreaking your snowman.” “We won’t do it again; promise.”

One of the younger kids shuffled out from behind Felicity long enough to mumble “I forgive you”.

“Good,” Felicity exclaimed, clapping her hands, “now let’s make snowpeople!”

The six of them spent the next hour working together and creating a veritable army of snowpeople.

The four youngsters had warmed up to each other and were actually enjoying playing together; the teenagers proudly helping the kids to build bigger and bigger snowmen since they could roll and lift the bigger snowballs.

They were so engrossed in playing that they barely seemed to notice when Oliver and Felicity said goodbye and resumed their walk home.

Felicity smiled fondly and rested her head on Oliver’s arm as they strolled home. “I love snowmen.”

Oliver—with literal heart eyes—wrapped his arm around his girlfriend. “I do too.”

“But Oliver,” she continued, “you have to stop being so mercurial in public.”

“Felicity?”

“Yeah?”

“I dropped out of four colleges. I have no idea what that word means.”

“Oh! It means, like, having abrupt changes in mood,” Felicity explained patiently, gesticulating with her hands. “Oliver, you basically threatened to arrow a couple of teenagers in the middle of a family park.”

“Yeah,” he admitted sheepishly, “I might have overdone it a little.”

“I love how much you protect people and stand up for what’s right—you know that,” she assured him, “but in the future try to remember the difference between teenagers and drug lords, okay?”

******

A few hours later the happy couple was snuggled up on their couch enjoying movie night.

Felicity was wearing Oliver’s green hoodie, which she often stole from him as it was giant on her and super comfy.

At the moment they were watching _The Princess Bride_ , gleefully quoting the lines along with the characters.

When they got to Inigo’s backstory, however, Felicity suddenly doubled over laughing.

“…he….you…” she gasped for air.

“Breathe, honey.” Oliver coaxed her.

She flapped a hand towards the tv and Oliver grabbed the remote to pause it.

“What’s so funny?”

Felicity staggered to her feet to stand on the couch, still laughing. She pulled the hood of the hoodie down over her head where it hung over her eyes.

Oliver couldn’t help but chuckle at how comically large it was on her.

“It’s you!” She giggled, “at the park today!”

Felicity held up her hands—covered in ridiculously long sleeves—and pretended to aim a bow at Oliver, doing her best to imitate his growly Arrow voice.

“My name is Oliver Queen,” she rumbled, “You killed my snowman. Prepare to die.”

Oliver stared at her for a moment before leaping up to tackle her to the couch and pepper her with kisses.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't watched The Princess Bride yet, well, go watch it! It's a classic!


	5. Year Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A snow kangaroo near the loft scares Felicity.  
> She calls Oliver, who goes to meet the little girl who made it.

Oliver hunched his shoulders, staring at the report in front of him.

He was proud of the work he was doing as mayor, but paperwork was not something he enjoyed.

Back when he was working at Queen consolidated, he’d had Felicity to help him with this sort of thing. But now…

_You’re still friends,_ Oliver reminded himself, _better to have her in your life as a friend than to not have her at all._

But oh, how he missed being her fiancé.

Oliver sighed and turned back to the report. There were two competing claims for an empty lot—one company wanted to build a skyscraper, while another organization wanted a playground.

Oliver was elbow-deep in real estate jargon when his cellphone rang.

He was about to ignore the call when he saw Felicity’s picture flash on his screen.

“Hello.”

“Oliver!”

That was Felicity’s panic voice. Oliver vaulted out of his chair and moved toward the closet where he kept the keys to his bike.

“Talk to me, Felicity. Where are you? What’s wrong?”

“There’s a snow kangaroo, Oliver! A _snow kangaroo_. Why would anyone make such a terrible thing?!”

Oliver’s shoulders sagged as the tension and adrenaline leaked out of his body.

Felicity wasn’t in danger; no criminals had kidnapped her.

Oliver settled back into his chair to pay attention to whatever she was going to tell him now.

“You know that one yard that you can see from the loft if you’re facing the right way?”

Oliver hummed his assent.

“Well we know there’s a kid who lives there, because there are usually snowmen or snow angels in the winter.”

Felicity was talking a top speed, but thankfully Oliver had enough practice to follow what she was saying.

“I went to look out the window to see if there were any new snowmen, since it snowed last night,” Felicity continued, “but instead of wonderful, magical snowmen, there was a horrible, evil snow kangaroo! Why?!?”

“Well,” Oliver answered carefully, “some kids do like kangaroos.”

“But they’re so creepy! They have _pockets_ , Oliver. No animal should have _pockets_.”

“So I’ve heard.” Oliver smiled. Just hearing her voice made his day. That she called him for something like this? Well, Oliver would be happy for a week after this conversation.

“Think about the _implications_ ,” Felicity stressed, “it’s bad enough that I have to look at this creepy thing for the rest of the winter. But what if someone knocks it over? Then there will be an evil kangaroo soul haunting the area! People don’t make snow kangaroos very often. It could be years before it gets a chance to reincarnate and leave! Oliver, what are we going to do?!”

“Well,” Oliver thought about it, “I could see if council would let me make a law banning snow kangaroos, but it sounds like that would do more harm than good at this point.”

“It’s too late for that,” Felicity panicked, “shoot, I’m gonna be late for work; I have to go. Just remember— _don’t kill it_.”

“I promise, Felicity.” Oliver assured her. “I won’t kill the snow kangaroo.”

They hung up together, and Oliver stared at the wall for a minute, lost in thought.

“Quentin! Where can I buy snow fence?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Oliver took a deep breath as he pulled into the driveway, piles of plastic orange snow fence in the trunk.

He chuckled a bit as he looked at the offending snow kangaroo; it was barely 3 feet tall. Yet it still scared Felicity, who had gone toe-to-toe with some of the most dangerous people in the world without so much as blinking.

Oliver put on his public smile and knocked on the door.

It opened to reveal a middle-aged woman bouncing a toddler on her hip.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, “Mr. Mayor. What brings you here today?”

“Hello ma’am.” Oliver greeted, “I’m here to speak to you about your snow kangaroo.”

“Oh yes,” the woman smiled “my Amy loves playing in the snow. What about it? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Oliver assured her. As much as Felicity might wish otherwise, there was nothing wrong with making snow kangaroos. It was a free country. “I received a call from someone who was worried that the kangaroo might be knocked over before spring,” Oliver explained, “I have some snow fence in the vehicle, and I was hoping that you would be okay with me putting it up so this… creative snow creature can last until spring.”

The woman was surprised, but agreeable. “That seems a little over the top, but if you want to, I guess you can go ahead. Would you mind if Amy came out to watch you? She’s feeling a little pent up with all the snow days the school keeps having.”

“Absolutely,” Oliver smiled, “I’d be more than happy to have a little helper.”

Five minutes later, Oliver and 9 year old Amy were figuring out how to set up snow fence. 

“Won’t Patrick be lonely?” Amy asked as Oliver boosted her up so she could have a turn hammering the posts into the snow.

“What do you mean? Who’s Patrick?” He questioned, confused.

“Patrick is the kangaroo, silly!” Amy laughed, “and if he is alone in the fence in the yard, won’t he be lonely?” she worried.

“Maybe he likes to be alone with the snow and the trees and the sky.” Oliver suggested.

“Don’t be silly,” Amy scoffed, “no one likes to be alone _all_ the time.”

“I guess that’s true,” Oliver concurred, thinking about how much better his life had become when Dig and Felicity came along. “I don’t have any meetings today, so I guess we could build a friend for Patrick.”

“Oooh, yes!” she exclaimed, “we could have a whole kangaroo family!”

Oliver panicked.

“Or… or… um,” he wracked his brains for another solution, “what if we made a _different_ animal, like a penguin or a lion?”

“Like a zoo!” Amy gasped, “We have more fence, right? We can make a whole zoo!”

She whirled away in a flurry of energy before Oliver had time to protest the change from _one_ animal friend to a whole _zoo._

If this would keep Amy from making more kangaroos and scaring Felicity, well, it looked like Oliver was going to be building a snow zoo.

3 hours later, a snow lion, hippo, elephant, and penguin had joined the kangaroo in the snow zoo.

“Alright Amy,” Oliver started, “I think we have enough animals now, don’t you?”

“Hmmm,” she tilted her head to the side as she studied the menagerie, “we just need one more thing.”

Oliver had long since given up on finishing the stack of reports on his desk today.

“What do we need?” He queried. He had grown quite fond of little Amy over the last few hours. He couldn’t help but wonder, though, if he would be building a snow zoo with William instead if he hadn’t sent him away. 

He shook the thought from his mind. This was for the best.

“A zookeeper!” Amy exclaimed.

“Yes,” Oliver agreed, “a zookeeper is a good idea.”

“Oh!” Amy clapped her hands in delight, “let’s make the Green Arrow our zookeeper!”

Oliver did a double take, barely hiding his shock.

“What???”

“The Green Arrow!” Amy insisted, “he keeps the people of Star city safe; he can keep our zoo safe too!”

Oliver’s heart melted a bit as he looked down at Amy. This little girl had so much faith in him. She was exactly why he put the hood on each night; so kids like her could make snow zoos safely and grow up to have a good future.

“I think the Green Arrow would take great care of the zoo.”

Oliver was shaping the quiver on the snowman’s back as Amy ran inside to ask her mom for a green scarf.

“Hey, snow Green Arrow?” he whispered, “I’m the human Green Arrow. Can you do something for me?” Oliver felt a little silly talking to snow, but he did it anyways, “my best friend is scared of kangaroos. Could you please make sure the soul of this—or any other—snow kangaroos stays away from her? Thanks.”

Amy came dashing back, scarf in hand. Oliver lifted her up so she could wrap the scarf around the snowman’s neck herself.

“We did it!” she cheered.

“We sure did,” Oliver agreed, holding out his gloved hand for a high five, “thanks for letting me play with you this afternoon.”

“You’re welcome! Come and play again another day!” Amy invited.

“I just might do that.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Oliver was at his desk again the next morning, determinedly working through the stack of reports.

He was behind, since he basically only worked a half-day yesterday, but it had been worth it.

Little Amy’s joy had been infectious, and hopefully Felicity would feel better now.

He had, of course, seen her last night at the bunker, but she had come straight from work, and it would have been too dark to see the snow zoo when they finally finished up patrols for the night.

A knock sounded.

“Come in!” Oliver called.

The city PR representative stepped into his office.

“Good morning,” Oliver greeted, “what can I do for you?”

“Mr. Mayor, why didn’t you let us know you were doing community outreach yesterday?” the woman asked, “we weren’t aware this was happening, so we didn’t have any cameras out. Thankfully a constituent posted on social media. You’re in the news.”

“What?” Oliver was baffled.

“Here, look.” The woman held out her phone, with an open article.

**Mayor plays in snow with local child** the headline read.

“This is awesome”, the woman gushed, “your ratings are way up in opinion polls. People like when you take time for children.”

“She was a special little girl,” Oliver smiled, “kids like her are the reason I need to be the best leader I can.”

“I’m going to quote you on that.” The woman hurried from the room.

Oliver got back to work. He hadn’t spent yesterday trying to win opinion polls. There was only one person who’s opinion of yesterday mattered to him.

Right on cue, his phone rang, flashing Felicity’s picture.

“Hi Felicity.”

“Oliver, is there a _snow zoo_ outside my window?”

“There is.” He chuckled, “Amy was persistent.”

“Amy?”

“The little girl who lives in that house. She’s nine.” Oliver explained, “When I went over to put up the snow fence she was worried that Patrick—the kangaroo—would be lonely, so we spent a few hours building friends for him.”

“Oliver Jonas Queen, you are something else.”

“You should know,” Oliver went on, “the zookeeper is the Green Arrow. I asked him to keep the kangaroo away from you, so you’ll be safe now.”

“…”

“Felicity?”

“Thank you, Oliver. That… means a lot.”

They chatted for a few more minutes before they had to hang up and get on with work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Felicity held her phone to her chest as she looked out the window, eyes watering as she gazed at the zoo that Oliver had, essentially, built just for her.

She couldn’t deny it.

She was still hopelessly in love with him.

“I love you, Oliver,” she whispered, “thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was a kid I thought snowmen were just a little too normal, so I made kangaroos and lions instead. One year I had an elephant and a hippo as well. 
> 
> Do you want to see Amy again? Let me know in the comments.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Twitter! @WinterJoy4


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